Tugun Surf Life Saving Club Nippers celebrate finally knocking off longtime surf lifesaving rivals Currumbin
'It's a rivalry that has been around forever and for us, something no one thought would ever be done.'
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WHEN Murray Seaton took the reins as Tugun Surf Lifesaving Club junior chairman, so commenced a four-year plan to end a long-running competitive drought spanning multiple generations.
On Saturday, that plan finally came to fruition. Tugun, long confined to the shadow cast by “big brother” Currumbin, broke a drought some claim extends beyond 100 years, by taking out the Point Danger Branch Titles for the first time.
Though Seaton conceded 100 years was “probably a slight exaggeration”, given that the Point Danger Branch was established in 1924, he said in his more than 40 years involved with the Tugun Nippers, Currumbin had always been an insurmountable high watermark – until now.
“It would be every bit of the 75-80 years history the club has,” Seaton said.
“The rivalry between Tugun and Currumbin is a strong, healthy, friendly rivalry. A lot of our good friends are at Currumbin.
“To beat Currumbin … it’s a rivalry that has been around forever and for us, something no one thought would ever be done. Currumbin had such a strong hold on that trophy.”
Hosts Tugun entered the second weekend of competition in third, 60 points behind leaders Currumbin, but a stellar showing on Saturday pushed them over the hump. By the end of the annual titles, the leaderboard read Tugun 544 points, Currumbin 508 points and Tallebudgera, in third, on 280 points.
“They’re like our big brother club, or whatever you want to call it. For us it was great to take it off them,” Seaton said.
“It wasn’t that long ago that Tugun was down in that sixth or seventh place in the branch, but over the past five years we’ve slowly moved up. We’ve been sitting in second the past few years, until this year.
“It may not happen again, I don’t know, but I do know we’ll definitely be trying again.”
Seaton said the secret to success was a quality club culture and passionate committee, which has done everything possible to build a successful junior base.
“There’s been a culture change – the kids that are there now enjoy what they do and they train bloody hard,” he said.
“They do the hard work in training and over time they’ve seen the hard work pays off; over the years they’ve seen success and have worked harder to train for the next one.
“They recognise that training hard and putting the work comes with results.
"The kids have a great environment. There’s a good bunch of parents down there and the club is very supportive of what we do. At the end of the day it’s run by volunteers … that’s what makes it special. That’s the culture of the Tugun Surf Club.”
NO STATES NO WORRIES FOR HISTORY-MAKING SIBLINGS
March 17, 2020
LAST month at the Point Danger Branch surf lifesaving titles, a trio of sisters sent officials scrambling for the history book.
Grace (11), Allie (13) and Jayda (14) Hughes, all representing Tugun surf club, managed to take out the under-11, 13 and 15 ironwoman titles respectively.
The Hughes’ stole the show and had set their sights on doing it again ... until the Queensland titles were cancelled due to the coronavirus.
SUSPENDED: SCHOOL SPORT HIT BY CORONAVIRUS
“We get out there on weekends and do body surfing champs,” said eldest sister Jayda.
“I think Grace is going to be the best out of all of us.
“There’s probably not as much rivalry between me but Allie and Grace have a lot of rivalry.
“They always try and get more medals than each other”
An impartial Allie added: “We’re all pretty good.”
Though she’s just starting out, Grace said her older sister was one to watch: “Allie’s won the most at state.”
PULLING THE PLUG: ANOTHER SPORT PULLS THE PIN
The Hughes’ first foray into surf life saving came when Jayda decided surf lifesaving was the sport for her.
“I was down at the beach every weekend and I always saw them doing it and I thought ‘I want to do that’ so I went and signed up,” she said.
It wasn’t long before her two younger sisters also entered the family surf lifesaving fold.
“They always follow in my footsteps so it’s nice,” Jayda said.
“They always chase me around and followed me around so I suppose they got dragged everywhere with me and decided they wanted to do it as well.”
Jayda, who is a member of Palm Beach Currumbin State High’s surf excellence program, trains 18 times a week to fit in all her sporting exploits which also include swimming and Aussie rules football.
The aspiring Olympic swimmer said her family has embraced the active lifestyle, her younger siblings also playing Aussie rules for Coolangatta, paying credit to parents Alex and Annette for making it all work.
“Us three all being in different age groups and competing at different times, it’s a lot of driving but we all manage somehow,” she said.
“We love it that way which is to have that lifestyle.”
Allie, a back to back state board paddling champion who is aiming for her third straight title this year, also helped Coolangatta to the 2019 under-13 girls footy premiership but hopes to forge a future in the surf.
“I want to be a Nutri-Grain ironwoman,” the Engine athlete said.
“I look up to all the athletes doing it now like Courtney Hancock.”
Grace, who is currently in grade six at Elanora State High School but will join her sisters at Palm Beach Currumbin next year, said Tugun surf club was always a place of solace.
“It’s my home and where I’ve always been,” she said.
“I always loved the water.
“I used to join in with them (her sisters) when I was too little to do it.”
Allie
-QLD secondary schools Carnival Mooloolaba 1st in Swim 1st in Board 1st in Iron Age Champion
-Queensland Endurance Titles: 1st in Swim, 1st in Board, 3rd in 2km run
-2nd in 2019 Coolangatta Gold
-Cudgen Classic: 1st in Iron, 1st in Swim, 2nd in Board, Age champion
-Gold Coast city titles: 1st in Board, 1st in Swim, 1st in Iron
-PDB representative in QLD Branch Titles at Currumbin, 1st in iron, 1st in Swim, 1st in Board
-PDB Branch Titles, 1st in iron, 1st in swim, 1st in board, 1st in 1km run
Jayda
QLD Secondary Schools Carnival, 4th in Swim, 2nd in Board, 7th in Iron
-PDB Branch Titles: 1st in iron, 1st in swim, 3rd in board
Grace
-Queensland Endurance Titles: 2nd in Swim, 1st in Board, 5th in 2km run
-1st in 2019 Coolangatta Gold
-Cudgen Classic: 3rd in Iron, 2nd in Swim, 1st in Board
-Gold Coast city titles: 1st in Iron, 2nd in Swim, 3rd in Board
-PDB Titles: 1st in Iron, 1st in swim, 1st in Board, 1st in Board relay, 1st in Board rescue, 1st in Swim teams, 1st in Cameron, 1st in 1km run
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